Paralyzed teen testifies in D.C. for car rearview rules

Patrick Ivison and his service dog, Kona, at the Action Sports Retail show at the San Diego Convention Center in February 2010. Ivison, now 16, competes for Lost Surfboards in Western Surfing Association competitions in the Challenged Athletes Division.
— K.C. Alfred / U-T

Patrick Ivison and his service dog, Kona, at the Action Sports Retail show at the San Diego Convention Center in February 2010. Ivison, now 16, competes for Lost Surfboards in Western Surfing Association competitions in the Challenged Athletes Division.
— K.C. Alfred / U-T

Patrick Ivison, a 16 year old Scripps Ranch resident, was 14 months old when a car backed over him, crushing his spine and paralyzing him from the neck down.

Since then, Ivison has amazed the San Diego community with his grit and soaring optimism, occasionally documented on TV and in print. Today, he surfs competitively, he drives a specially outfitted van, he’s planning for college, and he’s studying for his SATs.

And, once in a while, with difficulty, he actually stands up and walks.

On Wednesday, Patrick Ivison and his mother, Jennifer Kayler, will take another major step, of sorts, as they testify before a federal panel in Washington DC on the need for better rear-visibility standards for all vehicles.

Speaking from a hotel room around the corner from the Capitol in Washington, Ivision says he can barely recall testifying before the San Diego City Council as a nine year old, trying to save funding for a special sports program in which he participated.

Speaking before the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration panel will be a bigger deal.

“I’m a little nervous,” he said with a chuckle on Tuesday. “I’m not going to lie. I’m not going to lie.”

Ivison was undecided on Tuesday as to whether he would stick to the text he wrote or speak from his heart. Either way, he said, “I want to share my story.”

Ivison and his mother were brought to Washington by the advocacy group KidsAndCars.org which, according to its president and founder, Janette Fennell, is confident that Ivison will make an impact.

“I am so impressed with this young man,” said Fennell from Washington. “The world needs to see what happens when a car backs over a child.”

Fennell has waged a decade-long campaign to establish standards for improved rear visibility in all vehicles. In 2008 a bill was passed and signed which called for rear-visibility standards. The proposed standards were published in December 2010 and, in most cases, will require cameras on vehicles to meet rear-view visibility standards.

The comment period ended Feb. 7 but in an “interesting and unusual” development, said Fennell, the federal agency has reopened the comment period. The final standards are due Feb. 28, she said.

Most speakers on Wednesday have lost children in vehicle accidents or their children were injured and recovered. Ivison is the rare survivor who can speak directly to the consequences of poor visibility in vehicles, said Fennell.

In his prepared text, Ivison writes, that it is important that those writing the guidelines "understand that it’s impossible to avoid hitting something you simply cannot see.”

“I was quite fortunate to survive,” said Ivison from Washington. “I want to honor kids who didn’t survive.”